Pet toys usable with annular foodstuffs

ABSTRACT

A plurality of pet toys are usable with annular-shaped foodstuffs. Each pet toy includes a support upon which the animal foodstuffs can be situated and one or more retainers connected with the support that retain the animal foodstuffs on the support. At least one retainer on each toy includes one or more elastically deformable structures that are movable between a free state and an elastically deformed state. In the elastically deformed state, an animal foodstuff can be received across the retainer and onto the support. In the free state, the retainer is structured to resist removal of the animal foodstuff from the support and across the retainer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/520,936, filed Oct. 22, 2014, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Field

The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to animal toys and,more particularly, to a number of animal toys that are usable withfoodstuffs having a generally annular shape.

Related Art

Numerous types of animal toys are known in the relevant art. Such animaltoys typically include toys for domestic dogs and cats that enable theanimal to actualize their predator-prey instincts, that allow them tochew, and/or that make noises or have other features that generateinterest in the animal and alleviate boredom. Such toys desirably areconfigured to generate continued interest in the animal over an extendedperiod of time, and one way of generating such continued interest is tocombine the toy with food in some fashion. For example, certain animaltoys having a hollow interior space have been filled with peanut butter,animal treats, and the like, and the animal can spend a significantamount of time attempting to taste and dislodge the food from theinterior region. While such toys have been generally effective for theirintended purposes, they have not been without limitation, andimprovements thus would be desirable.

SUMMARY

A plurality of pet toys are usable with annular-shaped foodstuffs. Eachpet toy includes a support upon which the animal foodstuffs can besituated and one or more retainers connected with the support thatretain the animal foodstuffs on the support. At least one retainer oneach toy includes one or more elastically deformable structures that aremovable between a free state and an elastically deformed state. In theelastically deformed state, an animal foodstuff can be received acrossthe retainer and onto the support. In the free state, the retainer isstructured to resist removal of the animal foodstuff from the supportand across the retainer.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is toprovide an improved animal toy that is usable in conjunction with one ormore annular foodstuffs.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide such atoy that includes one or more elastically deformable portions that canretain an animal foodstuff thereon when in a free state and that permitaddition or removal of foodstuffs in a deformed state.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is toprovide an improved animal toy that is structured to retain thereon ananimal foodstuff which is of an annular shape and which has a holeformed therein. The animal toy can be generally stated as including anelongated support structured to carry the foodstuff thereon when atleast a portion of the support is received in the hole of the foodstuff,a retention apparatus that can be generally stated as including at leasta first retainer situated at an end of the support and structured to beelastically deformable between a free state and a deformed state, the atleast first retainer in the deformed state being structured to be atleast partially received in the hole of the foodstuff and being furtherstructured to permit the foodstuff to be moved along the at least firstretainer and onto the support whereby the support is at least partiallyreceived in the hole, and the at least first retainer in the free statebeing structured to resist removal of the foodstuff from the support

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can begained from the following Description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an improved toy in accordance with afirst embodiment of the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 2 is a view of the toy of FIG. 1 in a partially elasticallydeformed state;

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the toy of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an improved toy in accordance with asecond embodiment of the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view as taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, except depicting the toy in apartially elastically deformed state;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an improved toy in accordance with athird embodiment of the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the toy of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, except depicting the toy in apartially elastically deformed state;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a toy in accordance with a fourthembodiment of the disclosed and claimed concept; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an improved toy in accordance with afifth embodiment of the disclosed and claimed concept.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

DESCRIPTION

An improved pet toy 4 in accordance with a first embodiment of thedisclosed and claimed concept is depicted generally in FIGS. 1-3. Pettoys in accordance with other embodiments of the disclosed and claimedconcept are depicted generally in FIGS. 4-11. Each embodiment of the toyis usable with a number of animal foodstuffs 8 that are of a generallyannular or ring-shaped configuration. As employed herein, the expression“a number of” and variations thereof shall refer broadly to any non-zeroquantity, including a quantity of one. The toys are configured to retainthe animal foodstuffs 8 thereon in order to increase the interest of ananimal in the toys and to cause the animal to play with the toys, bothof which are desirable. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the animalfoodstuffs 8 are animal treats formed from edible materials suitable forconsumption by an animal.

In the first embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, the pet toy includes an elongatedsupport 12 and further includes a pair of retainers 16A and 16B at theopposite ends of the support 12. The retainers 16A and 16B may beindividually or collectively referred to herein with the numeral 16.Each retainer includes a pair of elastically deformable arms 20 and 24that elastically deflectable between a free state, such as is depictedgenerally in FIGS. 1 and 3, and an elastically deformed state, such asis depicted generally in FIG. 2. The arms 20 and 24 each have a firstend 28 that is situated on the support 12 and further have a second end32 opposite thereto that can be said to be a free end. In the free stateof FIGS. 1 and 3, the arms 20 and 24 are in an undeformed condition andare in an orientation whereby they diverge from one another in adirection generally away from the support 12.

The animal foodstuffs each have a central hole 36 formed therein that isconfigured to receive therein one of the retainers 16 in its elasticallydeformed state and/or the support 12. In order to place an animalfoodstuff 8 onto the pet toy 4, the arms 20 and 24 of one of theretainers 16, i.e., the retainer 16 at either end of the support, areelastically deflected from the free state to the elastically deformedstate, as is depicted in FIG. 2. Such elastic deflection of the arms 20and 24 can be accomplished manually by application of a pair ofconfronting compressive forces 38A and 38B to the arms 20 and 24 at alocation approximately adjacent the second ends 32. In the elasticallydeformed state, the arms 20 and 24 of the retainer 16 are positionedrelatively closer to one another than when in the free state. In theelastically deformed state, the arms 20 and 24 are either generally nolonger divergent from one another or are divergent to a lesser degree.The arms 20 and 24 in the elastically deformed state may be situated inphysical contact with one another along at least a portion of theirlongitudinal extent.

Once the arms 20 and 24 have been deflected to the elastically deformedstate of FIG. 2, an animal foodstuff 8, i.e., an animal treat, can bereceived on the retainer 16 such that at least a portion of the pair ofarms 20 and 24 of the retainer 16 are received in the hole 36 formed inthe animal foodstuff. In the deformed state, the pair of arms 20 and 24have an exterior dimension that is less than the diameter of the hole36. The animal foodstuff 8 is then advanced along the retainer 26 (inthe deformed state) until the animal foodstuff 8 reaches the support 12,at which point the arms 20 and 24 of the retainer 16 can be released andpermitted to elastically return to their free state. In this regard, itis noted that the arms 20 and 24 could be released from theirelastically deformed state while a portion of the retainer 16 is stillreceived in the hole 36, and the arms 20 and 24 moving toward their freestate will tend to urge the animal foodstuff 8 generally toward thesupport 12.

When the retainers 16 of the pet toy 4 are in their free state, thedivergent arms 20 and 24 have a pair of outboard surfaces 22 and 26,respectively, that face generally away from each other. In the freestate, at least a portion of the outboard surfaces 22 and 26 are spacedapart a distance greater than the diameter of the hole 36 in the animalfoodstuff 8. As such, the arms 20 and 24 in their free state retain theanimal foodstuffs 8 on the support 12 by resisting movement of theanimal foodstuff 8 beyond the portions of the outboard surfaces 22 and26 that are spaced farther apart than the diameter of the hole 36.

It is noted that the animal foodstuffs 8 that are situated on thesupport 12 and are retained thereon by the retainers 16 are freelytranslatable along the longitudinal extent of the support 12 between thetwo retainers 16 because the cross-sectional dimension of the support 12is smaller than the diameter of the hole 36 in the animal foodstuff Thepet toy 4 in its condition depicted generally in FIG. 3 can then beoffered to an animal, and the animal can then chew, paw, and otherwisemanipulate the pet toy 4 and the animal foodstuffs 8 retained thereon inorder to attempt to taste the animal foodstuff 8 and/or to remove theanimal foodstuffs 8 from their position situated on the support 12,which is desirable animal play.

It can be seen that the arms 20 and 24 of each retainer 16 include setsof alternating teeth 40 and grooves 44 that inter-engage with oneanother in the deformed state of the toy 4. The teeth 40 provideadditional material which can be chewed by the animal, and the teeth 40and grooves 44 also provide a visual appearance that is interesting tothe animal, both of which are highly desirable.

An improved pet toy 104 in accordance with a second embodiment of thedisclosed and claimed concept is depicted generally in FIGS. 4-6. Thepet toy 104 includes an approximately dogbone-shaped treat holder 106that is disposed on a blocking apparatus 148 having an approximatelypartially spherical shape. The blocking apparatus 148 includes an outerwall 152 that is hollow and that thus has an interior region 156. Theblocking apparatus 148 further includes a strut 160 that mounted to theouter wall 152 within the interior region 156 and that is situatedgenerally within the interior region 156. The outer wall 152 is of agenerally partially spherical shape, but it includes a pair of opposedopenings 164A and 164B through which the ends of the dogbone-shapedtreat holder 106 protrude. The openings 164A and 164B may beindividually or collectively referred to herein with the numeral 164.The blocking apparatus 148 includes a first pair of distal ends 168 thatare situated at the opening 164A and includes a second pair of distalends 168 situated at the opening 164B.

The bone-shaped treat holder 106 includes an elongated support 112 andfurther includes a pair of retainers 116A and 116B at the opposite endsthereof The retainers 116A and 116B may be individually or collectivelyreferred to herein with the numeral 116. In a fashion similar to the pettoy 4 of FIGS. 1-3, the retainers 116 of the second embodiment of FIGS.4-6 are situated at the opposite ends of the support 112 and eachinclude a pair of arms 120 and 124 that are movable between a free statewherein the arms 120 and 124 are in a divergent orientation, as isdepicted generally in FIGS. 4 and 5, and an elastically deformed statewherein the arms 120 and 24 are relatively closer together and enable ananimal foodstuff 8 to be received thereon. The retainers 116 can be saidto at least partially protrude through the openings 164 in the outerwall 152, which enables the aims 120 and 124 to be manually deformedbetween the free state and the elastically deformed state.

As can be understood from FIG. 6, the two retainers 116 are connectedwith the support 112 at a pair of junction points 172A and 172B situatedat the opposite ends of the support 112. The junction points 172A and172B may be individually or collectively referred to herein with thenumeral 172. The junction points 172 are situated generally in closeproximity to the two adjacent pairs of distal ends 168 of the outer wall152. Moreover, the distal ends 168 are spaced apart from one anothersufficiently to at least partially resist movement of an animalfoodstuff 8 through the opening 164. In order to receive an animalfoodstuff 8 onto the pet toy 104, the arms 120 and 124 of one of theretainers 116 are deformed from the free state of FIGS. 4 and 5 to theelastically deformed state of FIG. 6, and the deflected retainer 116 isthen received in the hole 36 formed in the animal foodstuff 8. In orderto advance the animal foodstuff 8 onto the support 112, the animalfoodstuff 8 is tilted in a direction oblique to the longitudinal extentof the support 112 in order to enable the animal foodstuff 8 to bereceived through the opening 164, beyond the junction points 172, andonto the support 112. As employed herein, the expression “oblique” shallrefer generally to a relationship that is neither perpendicular norparallel. The arms 120 and 124 can then be released to permit theretainer 116 to elastically return to its free state.

When the retainer 116 is in its free state with the animal foodstuffs 8situated on the adjacent portion of the support 112, the animalfoodstuffs 8 are freely movable along the portion of the support 112that extends between the strut 160 and the aforementioned retainer 116that had been elastically deformed to receive the animal foodstuffs 8thereon and had been subsequently released. However, and as can be seenin FIG. 6, when the retainer 116 is in its free state with the animalfoodstuff 8 situated on the adjacent portion of the support 112, thedistal ends 168 of the outer wall 152 and the arms 120 and 124 of theretainer 116 together at least somewhat retain the animal foodstuff 8generally within the interior region 156 of the outer wall 152. Theanimal foodstuff 8 retained in such a fashion causes the animal to chew,paw and otherwise manipulate the pet toy 104 in order to attempt totaste the animal foodstuff 8 and/or to remove the animal foodstuff 8from its position situated on the support 112, which is desirable animalplay.

An improved toy 204 in accordance with a third embodiment of thedisclosed and claimed concept is depicted generally in FIGS. 7-9. Thetoy 204 includes a support 212 and a pair of retainers 216A and 216B atopposite ends of the support 212. The retainers 216A and 216B may beindividually or collectively referred to herein with the numeral 216.

The retainers 216 each include a pair of arms 220 and 224 that each havea first end 228 that is situated on the support 212 and further includea second end 232 opposite thereto. It is noted that the second ends 232are each connected with a connector 234 and thus can be said to beconnected together. A channel 284 is formed in the toy 204 between theaims 220 and 224 to essentially form the arms 220 and 224 and to defineor distinguish one from the other. The arms 220 and 224 each include aproud portion 228A and 228B, respectively. The proud portions 228A and228B are situated on the arms 220 and 224, respectively, at a locationgenerally opposite the channel 284.

In the free state of the retainers 216, as is depicted generally inFIGS. 7 and 8, the midportions of the arms 220 and 224 are spaced apartfrom one another, meaning that a number of teeth and grooves formed inthe arms 220 and 224 are disengaged from one another and are spacedapart. However, if a pair of confronting compressive forces, such as aredepicted with the numerals 238A and 238B in FIG. 9, are applied to theproud portions 288A and 288B, the retainer 216 is moved from its freestate of FIGS. 7 and 8 to its elastically deformed state of FIG. 9. Inthe elastically deformed state, the teeth and grooves are engaged withone another, and the proud portions 288A and 288B (and the midportionsof the arms 220 and 224) are relatively closer to one another than inthe free state. More particularly, the proud portions 288A and 288B inthe elastically deformed state of FIG. 9 are spaced apart by a distanceless than the diameter of the central hole 36 in the foodstuffs 8, whichpermits the elastically deformed retainer 216 to be received in thecentral hole 36 as the animal foodstuff 8 is slid onto the toy 204. Oncethe foodstuff 8 has been moved onto the retainer 216 beyond the proudportions 288A and 288B, the compressive forces 238A and 238B can beremoved from the arms 220 and 224, whereupon the retainer 216 willelastically return toward its free state. In so doing, a pair ofoutboard surfaces of the arms 220 and 224 opposite the channel 284 mayengage the animal foodstuff 8 at the central hole 36 and urge the animalfoodstuff 8 toward the support 212. Since the proud portions 288A and288B in the free state of the retainer 216 are separated apart from oneanother by a distance greater than the diameter of the central hole 36,the retainer 216 in its free state retains the animal foodstuffs on thesupport 212 and on the portions of the retainers 216 where the outboardsurfaces are spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of thecentral hole 36. The support 212 is elongated and has a plurality ofbends and straight portions that are connected together that form atortuous path between the retainers 216 along which the animalfoodstuffs 8 can be moved by the animal, which increases interest in theanimal for the toy 204.

An improved toy 304 in accordance with a fourth embodiment of thedisclosed and claimed concept is depicted generally in FIG. 10. The toy304 includes a support 312 and a pair of retainers 316A and 316Bsituated at opposite ends of the support 312. The toy 304 issubstantially similar to the toy 204 except that the toy 304 includes adifferent number of bends and straight regions in the support 312, andthe bends and straight regions are in a different arrangement in the toy304 than in the toy 204 to provide a different tortuous path between theretainers 316A and 316B. Animal foodstuffs 8 can be received on the toy304 by elastically deforming the retainers 316A and 316B in the fashionmentioned above in the context of the toy 204.

An improved toy 404 in accordance with a fifth embodiment of thedisclosed and claimed concept is depicted generally in FIG. 11. The toy404 includes a support 412 and a plurality of retainers 416A, 416B,416C, and 416D. The retainers 416A, 416B, 416C, and 416D may beindividually or collectively referred to herein with the numeral 416.Each retainer 416 includes a pair of arms 420 and 424 that have formedtherebetween a channel 484 that forms on the arms 420 and 424 a numberof teeth and grooves that are engageable with one another in a fashionsimilar to the way in which the teeth and grooves of the arms 220 and224 are engaged with one another in the elastically deformed state. Thearms 420 and 424 each include a proud portion 488A and 488B,respectively, that is situated thereon opposite the channel 484. Thearms 420 and 424 are movable between the free state depicted generallyin FIG. 11 and an elastically deformed state that is similar to theelastically deformed state that is depicted generally in FIG. 9.

The support 412 can be said to include a central strut 460 to which theretainers 416 are each connected and from which they each extend. Thearms 420 and 424 of each retainer 416 include a first end 428 that isconnected with the strut 460 and a second end 432 opposite thereto thatis connected with a connector 434 whereby the second ends 432 can besaid to be connected together. A portion of each retainer 416A, 416B,416C, and 416D can be said to include a lug region 418A, 418B, 418C, and418D that is situated adjacent the strut 460 and that extends generallybetween the strut 460 and the proud portions 488A and 488B. The lugregions 418A, 418B, 418C, and 418D may be individually or collectivelyreferred to herein with the numeral 418. The lug regions 418 togetherwith the strut 460 can be said to form the support 412.

When the proud portions 488A and 488B are subjected to confrontingcompressive forces in the fashion of FIG. 9, the arms 420 and 424 areelastically deformed from their free state, which is depicted generallyin FIG. 11, to an elastically deformed state similar to that depicted inFIG. 9 wherein the teeth and grooves engage one another or are at leastsituated relatively closer to one another. While in the free state theproud portions 488A and 488B are spaced apart from one another adistance greater than the diameter of the central hole 36 in thefoodstuffs 8. However, the proud portions 488A and 488B in theelastically deformed state of the retainer 416 are spaced apart adistance less than the diameter of the central hole 36, whereupon afoodstuff 8 can be received on the retainer 416 and beyond the proudportions 488A and 488B and onto the associated lug region 418. When theconfronting compressive forces are released from the proud portions 488Aand 488B, the arms 420 and 424 elastically return to their free state,whereupon the proud portions 488A and 488B resist removal of the animalfoodstuffs 8 from the associated lug region 418.

It can be seen that the retainers 416A and 416C are situated generallyopposite one another on the strut 460, and the same can be said of theretainers 416B and 416D. The retainers 416 each extend from the strut460 in a non-planar fashion, and it can be seen from FIG. 11 that theretainers 416A and 416C extend from the strut 460 in a generally upwarddirection from the perspective of FIG. 11 whereas the retainers 416B and416D extend in a generally downward direction from the strut 460 fromthe perspective of FIG. 11. As such, the connectors 434 of the retains416B and 416D can engage a floor 492 and in so doing can cause the otherportions of the toy 404 to be situated at a location spaced above thefloor 492. This advantageously causes the strut 460 and the retainers416A and 416C to wobble on the floor 492 in the fashion of a seesawuntil the connector 434 of one the retainer 416A and the retainer 416Cengages the floor 492. Such wobbling and apparent unsteadiness furtherincrease the interest of the animal in the toy 404. In this regard, itcan be understood that the retainers 416A and 416C can likewise engagethe floor 492 if the toy 404 is turned upside down and can likewisecause the strut 460 and the retainers 416B and 416D to wobble in theaforementioned seesaw fashion.

The various embodiments of the pet toy 4, 104, 204, 304, and 404 areconfigured to generally retain the animal foodstuffs 8 thereon, but itis understood that the pet may eventually chew the animal foodstuff 8and/or elastically deform portions of the pet toys in order toeventually remove the animal foodstuffs 8 from being retained on the pettoys 4, 104, 204, 304, and 404. This again is desired play by the animalsince it retains the interest of the animal and resists the animal fromchewing other objects that may be available such as furniture, shoes,and the like that may be damaged or destroyed if the animal does nothave other things upon which the animal can desirably chew.

The pet toys 4, 104, 204, 304, and 404 described herein can be formedfrom any of a wide variety of appropriate semi-rigid or rigidelastomeric materials, such as rubber and numerous other rubber-like orother resilient materials. Portions of the pet toy depicted generally inFIGS. 4-6, such as the blocking apparatus 148, can alternatively beformed of a relatively harder or stiffer material such as TPR or otherappropriate material depending upon the needs of the particularapplication. The animal foodstuffs 8 can likewise be formed of any of awide variety of materials and may include, for example, ground rawhide,malt extract, a flavorant, an odorant, and other such materials withoutlimitation.

While specific embodiments of the disclosed concept have been describedin detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications and alternatives to those details could bedeveloped in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure.Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to beillustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the disclosedconcept which is to be given the full breadth of the claims appended andany and all equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An animal toy configured to retain annular shapedanimal foodstuff having a hole formed therein, the animal toycomprising: an elongated support structured configured to carry thefoodstuff thereon, at least a portion of the support configured to passthrough the hole of the foodstuff; a retention apparatus comprising aretainer disposed at an end of the support and elastically deformablebetween a free state and a deformed state, the retainer in the deformedstate being configured to pass through the hole of the foodstuffpermitting the foodstuff to be moved along the retainer and onto thesupport, the retainer in the free state being configured to resistremoval of the foodstuff from the support; and a blocking apparatusdisposed on the support, the blocking apparatus having a pair of distalends situated generally adjacent and spaced from the retainer and thesupport, the pair of distal ends being disposed at opposite sides of thesupport and being structured to permit the animal foodstuff to be movedgenerally therebetween and along the support.
 2. The animal toy of claim1 wherein the blocking apparatus comprises a frame having an outersurface that is in the shape of at least a portion of a sphere, the pairof distal ends being situated on the frame.
 3. The animal toy of claim 1wherein the blocking apparatus comprises a strut mounted to an outerwall of the blocking member and extending within an interior regionthereof.
 4. The animal toy of claim 3 wherein the support structure isconfigured to be at least partially disposed in the interior region. 5.The animal toy of claim 1 wherein the strut includes a holder member tohold the elongated support.
 6. The animal toy of claim 1 wherein eachdistal end at least partially defines respective openings in theblocking member, and the support member is configured and arranged toextend through the openings.
 7. The animal toy of claim 1 wherein theretainer includes first and second arms, the first and second arms beingmovable into the free state in which the first and second arms are in adivergent orientation.
 8. An animal toy configured to retain annularshaped animal foodstuff having a hole formed therein, the animal toycomprising: an elongated support structured configured to carry thefoodstuff thereon, at least a portion of the support configured to passthrough the hole of the foodstuff; a retention apparatus comprising aretainer disposed at an end of the support and elastically deformablebetween a free state and a deformed state, the retainer in the deformedstate being configured to pass through the hole of the foodstuffpermitting the foodstuff to be moved along the retainer and onto thesupport, the retainer in the free state being configured to resistremoval of the foodstuff from the support, the free state being a restposition state and the retainer being in the deformed state when subjectto compression forces.
 9. The animal toy of claim 8 wherein when in thedeformed state opposing teeth and grooves of the retainer engage eachother.
 10. The animal toy of claim 8 wherein the retainer includesopposed proud portions.
 11. The animal toy of claim 10 wherein theopposed proud portions are configured to receive the compression forcesto deform the retainer into the deformed state.
 12. The animal toy ofclaim 8 wherein the support includes a right angle bend.
 13. The animaltoy of claim 12 wherein the right angle bend is one right angle bend ofa plurality of right angles bends.
 14. The animal toy of claim 8 furthercomprising a support member configured to connect the support to anothersupport.
 15. The animal toy of claim 14 wherein the support memberincludes a central strut.